The onslaught of AI upon the music field is staggering and terrifying. Over the last few days I’ve stumbled upon an incredible amount of the low-effort content on Youtube, covering some unexpected areas: there are AI-generated extreme metal ‘records’, AI-generated krautrock, and, of course, tons of AI-spawned ambient. These genres tend to be less formulaic, and relatively marginal, compared to pop music. Yes, probably there are tons of AI-spawned pop too, I just don’t want to dive into this mud. Problem is, there are no extant genres un-parasited upon. And it takes quite a lot of attention to the secondary details, to see that it is synthetic media, not a well-performed, mixed and mastered music by humans.

In some cases (I strongly suspect that only in some) there is a barely-noticeable ‘synthetic content’ warning in the description, whereas, in my views, it should be on the top and glaring like a neon sign.

Seriously, I’d love to see an option to filter this content out completely. But there is none.

AI is a threat. It is not just a new technology ‘to unleash creativity and productivity’. It’s not a printing machine, a stoking frame, or an agrimotor, nor this is a photo camera, or, God help me, a synthesizer or digital creation tools like DAWs and Photoshop. Those are, after all, ‘interfaces’. Occasionally they ended up replacing certain professions, but without actually making humans ‘an expendable ware’, Matrix-style.

AI encroaches upon doing just that.

Some time ago I’ve run into two good definitions on LinkedIn: ‘[AI is] A predictive plagiarism engine creating mediocre mash-ups of actual human creativity‘ (by Lauren Beukes), and ‘The underlying purpose of Al is to allow wealth to access skill while removing from the skilled the ability to access wealth.’ (by Julian Deleij). Both are spot-on correct, in my view.

At present it does look like AI arrives in order to to supplant creatives those are historically bad at being controlled. Off with them, then: they have more than enough ‘stuff’ created over the centuries so that obedient, simulacra-spewing mill never ceases production. And why not? – All music had been already composed, every possible story plot has been covered multiple times, there is more poetry in the world than any human can read throughout their entire life, every possible dramatic turn has been explored.

Besides, the general populace tends to hold everything pertaining to the modern arts in contempt, especially in the less free societies. Everything that is art already exists, the rest is not needed nor wanted. The AI’s products are okay within this thinking framework.

New technologies surely do affect the progress in arts. Always’ve done. Until the generative AI, that is.

It is not about leaving creatives penniless (since the emergence of Internet they aren’t exactly revelling in gold, anyway), or altering the ways of creating ‘content’. It is exactly where Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek memorable quote ‘cost of creating content being close to zero’ starts ringing true.

AI comes to unmake the arts and creative work. And there doesn’t seem to be any emergency switch to stop that mad train before it rams the very foundations of civilization. Probably it is too late already.